March 2016 - RIP Dodd Frank

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SERVICING
THE LATEST
OCC Clears U.S. Bank,
Santander Restrictions
The agency orders the pair to shell out a
combined total of $13 million to wipe the
slate clean.
T
he Office of the Comp-
troller of the Currency
(OCC) has terminated
mortgage-servicing
related enforcement actions
against U.S. Bank and Santand-
er, the agency announced.
According to the OCC, the
agency has levied a $10 million
civil penalty against U.S. Bank
and a $3.4 million civil penalty
against Santander. The termina-
tion of the orders ends busi-
ness restrictions that the banks
were operating under since last
June and completes the enforce-
ment process that began with
OCC (and its Office of Thrift
Supervision) orders against the
banks in April 2011.
U.S. Bank issued the following
statement on the OCC's action:
"The Office of the Comptroller
today announced that U.S. Bank,
N.A., has met the requirements
of its amended consent order
related to its residential mort
-
gage servicing activities and the
consent order has been termi-
nated in full. We are pleased to
have this matter with the OCC
resolved and remain committed
to providing exceptional service
to our residential mortgage
customers."
The bank continued: "Our
employees have worked very
hard over the past few years to
implement improvements to our
processes that will enhance our
customers' experiences, should
some of our residential mortgage
borrowers experience hardships,
such as bankruptcy or loan
default. U.S. Bank embraces the
highest standards of compliance
and we continuously explore
ways to improve our processes
in all aspects of our mortgage
business, and across the entire
enterprise, to benefit all of our
customers."
Santander issued the following
statement:
"The announcement from the
OCC reflects the progress we
have made to enhance all aspects
of how we support our custom
-
ers. We have implemented a
significant number of practices to
improve how our mortgages are
serviced, particularly in support
of customers facing financial
hardship. This builds on our
work across Santander US to
further meet the expectations
of customers, shareholders, and
regulators."
The OCC had already
terminated mortgage servicing-
related orders against Bank of
America, Citibank, PNC Bank,
One West, EverBank, JPMorgan
Chase, Aurora Bank, FSB, and
MetLife Bank. Wells Fargo and
HSBC continue to operate under
enforcement actions restricting
certain business process, accord
-
ing to the OCC.
Last June, the OCC an-
nounced that by the end of 2015,
eligible borrowers and their heirs
would be able to claim uncashed
payments made pursuant to the
2013 Independent Foreclosure
Review Payment Agreement
through their respective states'
escheatment processes.
According to the OCC then,
more than $2.7 billion had been
distributed to more than 3.2
million eligible borrowers from
OCC-supervised institutions
as a result of the IFR Payment
Agreement, representing about
90 percent of the amount avail-
able for distribution. The agency
estimated that roughly $280 mil-
lion from OCC-supervised insti-
tutions would go unclaimed by
the end of 2015, after all efforts to
find remaining eligible borrowers
had been exhausted.
At the time, the OCC deter-
mined that Bank of America,
Citibank, and PNC Bank had
complied with the orders the
agency issued in 2011 and the
amendments it issued in 2013,
and therefore the consent orders
against them were terminated.
The restrictions included
limitations on the acquisition of
residential MSR portfolios, new
contracts to perform residential
mortgage servicing for other
parties, the outsourcing or sub-
servicing of new residential
mortgage servicing activities to
other parties, off-shoring new
residential mortgage servicing
activities, and new appointments
of senior officers responsible for
residential mortgage servicing.